RALEIGH, N.C. — What would happen if you held a hockey game and the shooters didn’t show up? For quite a while Tuesday night, the offensively inept Carolina Hurricanes and the Flyers provided an answer disguised as a cure to insomnia.

Finally, Carolina’s Nathan Gerbe decided to tackle Mark Streit and play wrestler with him. The Flyers emerged with a power play late in the third period. Although they were all of 5 for 56 on the power play before that, Kimmo Timonen uncorked a shot that Scott Hartnell tipped past goalie Justin Peters with 3:58 remaining.

Then with all of 52 seconds left, the previously snoozing Staal Brothers combined for a tying goal for the Hurricanes.

That done, the Flyers found themselves cooked when Carolina’s veteran center Manny Malholtra checked Streit off the puck, then was served up a clean breakaway. He beat Steve Mason with a backhander that gave the Hurricanes a 2-1 overtime victory over the Flyers.

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After 56 minutes of neutral zone dancing, the Flyers scored first on a power play goal that seemingly came from nowhere. It was Hartnell’s first goal of the season. It was Hartnell’s first point of the season. It was Timonen’s first point of the season. The Flyers have scored four goals over their last four games. They had gone 219 minutes and 28 seconds since their previous goal.

But the Flyers have also learned how to defend. And defend some more. And dump more pucks than New York City dumps trash in a week.

Prior to Hartnell’s power play goal, their best moment came at the end of the second period and beginning of the third. That’s when the Flyers killed off a two-man Hurricanes advantage that went for 1:02. Other than that, Mason stayed strong throughout, making a big save on an Eric Staal slapshot with 8 minutes and change remaining in regulation.

That was significant because essentially not much else of offensive value was available to the paying customers.

So for entertainment purposes only, the Hurricanes’ best “cheering section” was there to shout all night long in a seemingly half-empty ... (15,500-and-change announced attendance; yeah, right) ... PNC Arena. Their best effort of the night was “We Want Curling!”

Yeah, they’d only get stoned in that sport, too.

But then the Hurricanes came alive when they pulled Peters for an extra skater. Eric Staal got possession of the puck behind the net, and saw his brother Jordan sneak in behind Claude Giroux in front. Staal’s pass was tipped in by Staal, and the game was going overtime.

It didn’t take long there for the Flyers to lose again. At least this time with a standings point in tow.